The Official Blog of Dosho Port

A natural enso in the woods behind our house. Admiring and photographing this gnarled tree capped off an afternoon romp with dog Bodhi and my kids. There is something inexplicably satisfying for me in see Bodhi and my kids running wild in a field of tall, golden grasses. Read More »

40 degrees and snowing now in White Bear! When all dharmas are of the Buddha‑dharma, there is illusion and enlightenment, practice, birth and death, buddhas and sentient beings. A friend of many years came by last night to install a new “programmable” thermostat and have dinner. Although the installation went well – his part – setting the program didn’t – ... Read More »

An earthworm is cut in two pieces; the two pieces are both moving. In which piece do you think Buddha -nature exists? In the Genjokoan Dogen slices our practice into four pieces: when all things are the Buddhadharma, when all things are without self, leaping out from abundance and absence, and “…yet in attachment blossoms fall, and in aversion weeds ... Read More »

The Venerable S. came by last night for Dogen study. I once gave her the Sixteen Bodhisattva Precepts and now she is a fully ordained Theravadan Bhikkuni, soon off on pilgrimage to western Australia and points beyond for more training. She’s living her dream and so I’m very happy for her. Really very happy. She brought a gift for everyone ... Read More »

Tonight with dog Bodhi at my feet, I’ve been studying for the Dogen Study Group that meets here on Thursday evenings and clicked over to the Shasta Abbey Shobogenzo (the whole lollapalooza 96 volume version, free and online) to peek at their translations of Genjokoan and Bussho (the home of the earthworm koan way at the back). Tonight I found the translations quite wonderful and ... Read More »

This is my first (and maybe last) book so maybe that makes the process especially sweet but I just recently received a blurb from Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede. Bodhin is one of Phillip Kapleau’s successors (you know, Three Pillars of Zen) and I’ve enormously liked the guy since I saw him sitting at a peace vigil at the UN Disarmament Conference ... Read More »

Sesshin ended earlier today. Back on June 25th I posted some thoughts about the earthworm koan regarding living a divided life. Here at Wild Fox we’ve been focusing on the earthworm again. Its keeps wiggling back. Today I look at it more closely, in terms of our hearts. Here it is followed by brief comments: In the assembly of Chang-sha, ... Read More »

I just saw Bill Maher’s mockumenarty, Religulous – the Catholics come out lookin’ pretty good thanks to a couple odd-ball priests, otherwise Judaism, Islam, and Christianity all take a severe beating. I enjoyed the movie and found Maher’s emphasis on doubt and reason refreshing. But then I tend to like rough humor. The film underscored for me the importance of zazen as ... Read More »

Notes: the photo is a sculpture by James Hunoldt and this is a slightly modified version of what I just posted on the training blog. In the study group on Thursday we worked through part of a commentary by Sen’ne, a 13th century Zen guy, on the genjokoan. I’ll try to present the heart of it here. And then there ... Read More »

I suppose this is a postscript to the previous post, something that I find to be central about inquiry. For me and for many Zen students, a question emerges, gushes from the well spring, that must be resolved. I’ve written about my experience with such a “found koan” in Keep Me In Your Heart Awhile – “How can I go ... Read More »

In Omaha over the weekend, I worked with the group on how to do dharma study. I did this by asking questions and listening and in this case the medium was the message. Zen is questions and questioning. Zen is about learning to ask questions that crack the bunny life open. And about how to attend to those questions that ... Read More »

That’s the first of the four reliances, along with these: rely on the spirit, not the letter; rely on the definitive meaning not the interpretive meaning; and rely on nondual wisdom, not discriminating consciousness. All of the latter three depend on the first one – rely on the teaching. The personality and body of any teacher is unreliable. We’re all ... Read More »

This is a key issue for many practitioners, especially those who aren’t in monastic settings or practicing regularly at a Zen center. One way that most people try is discipline – when it’s time to get up in the morning and sit, just get up. From what I’ve seen, though, I’d say this approach doesn’t work very well. “Discipline” tends ... Read More »

This is the first posting for the 100-day practice period study group on the Shobogenzo Genjokoan. I’ll mark these posts with the moon of the night we met (or the day of the posting if it is something pertaining to the study) in order to help identify them. I’m considering a separate blog for this … but not clear about ... Read More »

There are two main themes. The one that seems to stand out to most people who’ve seen it is the teacher-student relationship thread. That’s how Wisdom is summarizing and promoting it. And in collecting blurbs for the book, I’m seeing that the same focus. This one just arrived from Shohaku Okumura (to whom I deeply grateful) that nicely expresses this first ... Read More »

About Sweeping Zen

Established in 2009 as a grassroots initiative, Sweeping Zen is a digital archive of information on Zen Buddhism. Featuring in-depth interviews, an extensive database of biographies, news, articles, podcasts, teacher blogs, events, directories and more, this site is dedicated to offering the public a range of views in the sphere of Zen Buddhist thought. We are also endeavoring to continue creating lineage charts for all Western Zen lines, doing our own small part in advancing historical documentation on this fabulous import of an ancient tradition. Come on in with a tea or coffee. You're always bound to find something new.

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